History of BACTERIA

The word Bacteria is derived from the Greek word bacterian which means a little stick. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch cloth merchant was the first person to see bacteria using a single lens. When Bacteria was first observed under the microscope, they looked like little stick and that is why they were given this name. Sometime later, scientist discovered another form of a tiny vegetable organism. These organisms were a little bit larger than bacteria and therefore given the name bacillus, which means rod. There are many bacteria around us some are useful, some are dangerous. It is found everywhere in the air, soil, water and inside your body and on your skin. He describes Bacteria as “animalcules”. These are generally classified into three group i.e. Spherical (coccus), rodlike (bacillus) or spiral (spirilla).